Game T-4: Go Mavs!

Just four more wins and all those depressing years during the early-to-mid '90s are going to be washed away in sheer euphoria.

This is why you support your team through thick-and-thin through however many years. It's a heck of a lot more fun if you've been there for the dark deep valleys when the glorious summit is in sight...

One of my friends emailed me asking:

Is it safe to declare that Dirk is the greatest Maverick player in history?

My response was:

At this stage, probably so. To round out my starting five, I'd add: Mark Aguirre, Derek Harper, Ro Blackman, and Jason Kidd.

There are a number of folks who you could argue are in the next tier - Finley (who is probably the toughest omission from above), Perkins (who was overshadowed by the others on that mid-80s team), Schrempf (who only gave us a glimpse of what he'd later become), Nash (who only became an two-time MVP after leaving Dallas; but arguably he's still the same player - and Kidd was better by a country mile), Mashburn (who had his moments, but I don't think he ever cared as much as we all wanted), and Tarpley (who sadly never learned how to put down the crack pipe). As for current Mavs, Howard has the most potential of the current Mavs to join this second-tier group. Harris may surprise me though too if he stays long enough.

Prior to the Cuban era, the best Mavs team was probably the 1988 Mavs when they took the Showtime Lakers to the 7th game of the Conf. Finals. The 1987 Mavs, while having a better regular season record, just completely choked in that playoffs.

Just think happy thoughts...

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